From the Shadows
by chanhun186
Summary: Modern AU Fanfic. Sasuke is a tortured soul and over the years he had grown bitter. One night he is told of a girl with bright jade eyes and flowing pink hair. Is she the one he's been missing all this time? No... she can't be. She doesn't even know who he is. Out of anger and sadness, he imprisons her, but who is the real prisoner? Sasusaku
1. Chapter 1

Sakura P.O.V

I closed up shop to head home, the stench of ground coffee beans lingering on me and my bag of unbought cakes. I huddled my arms together, not too much to give anything away, as I was actually quite scared to walk the streets alone this late at night. They may have been empty but as my father always told me, it's better to be safe than sorry. It was at this solitary moment when I got to think about things festering in my mind. For example, did I really have what it took to become a doctor? I mean people were placing their lives in my hands and the pressure was devouring me. The studying was fine, I was a competent and intelligent student with no real social life. I wasn't anti-social but more like invisible to most of the student body of the academic facilities I attended. It's true I wasn't a very loud or bold person but even shy people can make friends. I was different when he was alive and even now that was an issue.

Anytime I was around blood, even the smell, I couldn't function properly. The memory resurfaced every time I saw it but it wasn't just that. It was like I could almost taste it in my mouth or I could identify the specific shades of blood from looking at it and tell what animal it had come from. Well, it wasn't a shade but I just could. That definitely helped in class but it also got some strange looks thrown at me. I guess I didn't want anyone to experience what I had that night in the ER so I decided to dedicate my life to saving other lives. By day a simple barrister and waitress, by night a college student hitting the books feeding on unwanted bakes and free coffee as well as the usual salad. I mean I was a vegetarian. Yup for a girl who knew a lot about blood and wanted to deal with guts every day I couldn't stand the sight of steak or blood oozing out, it just felt wrong to me. I had a plan and I was going to follow it right to the end; graduate with honours and major in medicine, work at the prestigious Konoha Hospital, save as many lives as I can, slowly and steadily make at least one friend, meet a guy, get married and have kids, retire and grow old with my husband. It may seem not that thought out but it was comprised of my goals and dreams so it was really just a template, it was everything I could ask for in life.

Finally, I had made it to the familiar street as I hurried through the blistering cold when I heard a deafening smash! I gasped and stayed behind the building. I knew there was a small convenience store around this corner and if my guesses had proved me right, it was being broken into. What do I do? I peaked around the corner and there I saw three hooded figures loading a truck with stolen goods. I tried to calm my breathing as my shaking reached into my purse to grab my phone. Just when I was about to dial the police I forgot to check if the coast was clear, I could hear approaching footsteps. I covered my mouth and tried to stay undetected.

"I told ya Shino, I sm- heard someone over here!" Barked a man, I tried to stop the tears welling in my eyes.

"Well, we finished our job... it won't hurt looking for our little witness. Why do you ask? Because if she was to report us we could get into a lot of trouble from Boss... have you seen our witness Miss?" The man named Shino turned the corner with a blank expression that terrified me.

Obviously, he had already seen me somehow but that wasn't worrying me the most anymore. These two seemed to apart of some sort of gang! Boss? I was going to be killed by the mafia!

Shino was in a big, black trench coat with a hood and collar that covered his mouth. In fact, all you could see were his thick, black goggles that masked his eyes. The other one had all canines with two red markings on either cheek, he resembled a dog. He wore a leather jacket with a netted undershirt and jeans. They edged near me, the other one carrying a petrifying smirk with his sharp teeth while Shino remained unreadable.

"Listen... I, uh... I didn't see anything!" I lied horribly.

"Then why's your phone out? Why? Because you were attempting to ring the authorities. Sadly I can not allow you to do that," said Shino.

"You guys are bad people and you belong in jail!" The two ignored me, the red-faced one rolled his eyes before Shino turned to his partner.

"Go get Akamaru Kiba," he ordered but I wasn't there long enough to hear anything else because I had made a run for it.

I raced down the street with my trainers on luckily and made a sharp turn before making it onto another street which was situated behind my house. I could hear the bark of a dog and a familiar voice which meant I still hadn't lost them. Still pretty shaken, I climbed up a drainpipe to reach my room window. I kicked open the latch with my foot and with all my remaining energy I jumped to catch onto the ledge. The barks grew louder, the tears streaming down my face as I tried to pull myself through the window. I was too worn out and I contemplated just dropping instead of enduring their forms of torture. But that's not why he died. He died so I could live. I managed to muster some sort of courage and will before pulling myself through the window and shutting it. I sighed with relief and cried my eyes out.

After a few minutes, I heard Kiba curse at the dead end he had found himself in. I peaked wearily out of the window and saw him pull out his phone. I could faintly hear his conversation.

"Boss. Shino and I got the job done but there was a witness."

"We were going to take care of her but she ran for it. I lost Shino too."

"We'll find her Boss. It's funny, with that bright pink hair and green eyes you'd think we'd be able to spot her easily."

"What?!" My eyes widened with pure fear. The man on the other line had roared so loud she could hear it from a good fifteen meters away. It sounded like a feral beast and Kiba himself had had to distance his ear away from the phone.

"W-What is it Boss?"

"Bright pink hair, shining jade eyes, ivory skin. She was quite beautiful actually." I gulped.

"S-Sorry Boss. We'll find her and bring her back for you!" Kiba hung up and I felt filled with dread. I was now a wanted woman!

I tried one more time to call the police on my phone but as I put it up to my ear, I saw a bug crawling up my wrist. I put it down to shoo the bug away but as soon it flew away another five crawled up my leg. I stopped to shake the bugs off but as I went to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom none other than Shino stood by my bathroom sink but not only that! He was engulfed by bugs! I backed away until my back hit the cold tiled wall behind me.

"W-What are you?!" If I wasn't so scared for my life I wouldn't have said that as rude as I had.

"Never underestimate even the smallest bug," he tilted his head and at that moment I felt something crawling up my neck. I felt it bite me but I didn't feel anything as I hit the floor and blacked out.

 **Okay so this is one of my more polished pre-written stories, I've got ten lined up but I started with my current favourite, keep in mind I still think it's not as good because I'm pretty inexperienced. I've written more of this one than I have of Coming Home, simply because I enjoy writing it more at the moment. I decided to post this to get some feedback. Just because this chapter felt awfully short I'm going to post two today so happy reading and constructive criticism is always appreciated. Grammar isn't too bad and spelling is alright I just wish I knew how to convey the story but let me know what you think and thanks for reading! Also just a warning but I tend to ramble on about what they're wearing so feel free to imagine your own style or skip completely. Personally, it just sets the mood or the character a bit for me**


	2. Chapter 2

Ugh. My head is throbbing but something cools numbs the pain. I reluctantly open my eyes but I can barely see anything. A dim, glowing light bulb illuminates allowing me to see. I try to run towards it on my wobbly legs but my head comes into contact with some sort of barrier, it makes a painful noise. I reach out with a worn out breath to identify with my hands, what this barrier is. I feel gaps in between metal bars in a grid-like formation. I wandered around to see how far it stretched when I found an inward corner. I had then come to the conclusion that I was trapped in a large cage to await my impending death.

I lie on the cold metallic floor beneath me and tried to fall asleep but alas that horrid metallic stench was all I could smell. Subconsciously I knew this place stunk of blood, it was the worst I had ever smelt but if I was to continuously ponder on the subject I would start hyperventilating. So I kept a calm head, nestled my knees to my forehead and simply let it out. I always thought of myself as a pathetic crybaby so why not show that wonderful trait of mine right now. My sniffles turned into cries which grew into sobs until I had nothing left in me and my red, puffy eyes fluttered closed and my cold, runny nose gave out.

My dreams had always been peaceful. I was always safe and protected there, that's why I loved them so much. I could escape from cruel reality and for a moment I could forget about life and be someone I wanted to be. Sometimes I was a petal dancing to the ground and through the wind in perfect harmony as the seasons changed around me. Sometimes I was a successful doctor with high honours, adored by the world and my imaginary friends and family.

But this time was different. This time my dreams weren't peaceful nor were they safe in the slightest. This dream was filled with blood. It absolutely reeked of blood! There was death all around me, moans of soldiers begging to end this pain. All there was was pain and suffering. Chaos and bitterness. This... was war...

I looked at my hands covered with calluses and cuts. I knew who I was as if I had been here but how could I have? I had never even seen a combat knife up close before! So how did I have the faintest idea on what was happening right now? Suddenly I felt a presence in my body as if I could see but I couldn't say or do anything. I walked off the battlefield engulfed by death and into a dimly lit tent. From the shadows emerges a blank-faced man with a slightly more paler tone of skin than usual, how I knew this I didn't know.

"Good evening Milady," he spoke with clarity and I nodded dismissively at him.

"What's the status report Sai?"

"The troops are currently being decimated by those monsters," he paused as he spoke the words so full of hatred and disgust which was quite rare as Sai was rather good at controlling his emotions. He closed his eyes for a moment before continuing.

"They have already reached the towns and have begun slaughtering innocent women and children. We're running out of ideas as our main strategist Shikamaru Nara was killed in action by those filthy god-forsaken beasts. As you might have been informed... Ino Yamanaka was caught up in the confrontation and was slain as well," he stopped again to pray for his wife resting in the clouds. I sympathised with him to a great extent for some reason. I had the urge to reach out and clutch his shoulder in a means to let him know I was here for him but war was war and there was no use of wasting tears on such an honourable man and woman.

"The enemy then targeted the Kyuubi container but luckily and unfortunately the prodigy Neji Hyuuga was confirmed as a fatality in order for Naruto to escape, reluctantly," he explained.

"So?"

"Frankly my lady, we are losing to a great deal and are almost outnumbered. That freak, he only had access to a few sources and at the start we vastly outnumbered him. But his soldiers... they're unnatural. Four of his subjects, they appear to be no older than thirteen yet that slaughter almost an entire platoon out there. Reports have come in that they resemble the demon himself. In a battle that took place amongst our forests, we planned an ambush and waited to strike the enemy down but alas the trees themselves had been mutated to his bidding and turned into large monsters shotting arrows from their sides - this is where we lost Hyuuga. Then there was the Battle of Sunrise where nine figures cloaked in black and red clouds showed formidable strength annihilating exactly half of our troops before we could apprehend them all, we lost Shikamaru and Ino in those fights. Not only that but recently Third Company has sighted an entire army made from our corpses. Reports saw them perform a ceremony which brings them back from the underworld. They return ghostly pale with cracks and abnormal limbs and bright yellow irises, they have no resemblance to their past bodies and go by the shared name; Zetsu. And some of them... some of them he has been cruel and left their appearance to taunt us. They used the late Asuma Sarutobi to trick Ino and Shikamaru and I fear he will eventually use their bodies against us as evidence shows he has already "equipped" Lady Tsunade, your late aunt," I twitched with pure hate and anger.

"What do we do my princess?" Sai asked with undertones of desperation in his voice. I, myself was trying to control myself after hearing about those disturbing recounts.

"Make sure Naruto stays safe. He will be unstable after see Neji die. Only when I assess him will he be allowed back onto the front lines. Request immediate back up from the sand and wait for their arrival. Brief them and see what Temari has to say, she was just a good strategist as her late husband. As for the troops right now, I myself will assist them on this and as many battles as I can. We will keep fighting and push back for our kingdom," I said with finality. We both knew eventually we would be killed but we weren't going down without a fight! Sai nodded grimly before a thought became evident on his face.

"And... what about the prince?"

"Keep him with Naruto. If they fall into his hands, we're done for. His visual prowess and Kurama's power are too important. I will protect them with my life."

"Yes, my princess."

I walked past him and grabbed my combat boots off the hooks. I tugged them on and made it to the battlefield, I didn't have enough time to put proper armour on so my denim shorts and jacket would have to do. If the gods decided I was to die today then so be it!

I stood at the foot of the battle when a familiar pudgy-faced man turned to face me.

"Princess?! What are you doing out here?! Please take cover!" Screamed Choji Akimichi in alarm.

"Yeah! Just listen to Fatty and go back to your precious castle wittle pwincess! Cherish it before we turn it to ruin!" Mocked a Zetsu.

He was finished after I aimed a perfectly thrown knife into his chest, right where his heart should have been had he been a normal creature of nature. Nevertheless, he went down with a pained groan as I looked my enemy in the eyes fearlessly. I grabbed three more kunai from my holster, prepared to put my training into action. I leapt and hit my marks perfectly again - I had learnt from one of the best when it came to a keen eye and precision after all.

I charged at the pale-faced enemies, their skin resembling moonlight, their blood soaking my kunai. After getting through a good one-hundred of them a figure sauntered towards me. I edged closer to get a better look but the fog was thickening.

"I didn't believe the Zetsu when they told me a princess had come out to play... so I took it upon myself to come and see if it was true. I am Sakon and this is my brother Ukon." Introduced the boy with two-heads. So this was one of the four Sai had warned me about.

"Don't even bother for calling upon your troops for help. That Akimichi is as good as dead up against Jirobo. That means I will torture you until you wished you'd never been born. Then I will eat your flesh and dance on your ashes," he said in a blood-thirsty voice, how disgusting it sounded in the mouth of such a young boy.

I ran at him with my kunai and threw it at him. He dodged it well as I expected but couldn't miss the other I had replaced and grazed him on the cheek. He growled dangerously and threw a punch my way in which I flipped back to dodge.

"So you prefer hand-to-hand? Great, that's my specialty," I hissed and aimed a kick to his knees but he jumped in time for me to land a severely injuring punch to his cut cheek. It exploded with more blood and I resisted the urge to gag. I wasted no time in moving up and landing more successful kicks and punches until I sensed his stamina wearing.

"I have to give you some credit princess, you are very fearful in battle. Such a noble warrior princess, you deserve a nickname... how about the Blood-soaked Blossom? I have seen first-hand how beautifully you fight in the moonlight, it's as if you're dancing. The blood of my brothers that splatters upon your face and coats your kunai is simply breath-taking. The contrast of blood's dark crimson to the light shades of pink which colour the flower you were named after is... simply delicious."

I backed up as the Sakon's voice grew deeper until it was unintelligible and... demonic! It was when my eyes focused on him again did I think I was seeing double. Two terrifying beings approached fast. They had bristling teeth and bright, red horns atop their head. I was too shaken to move and before I knew it one of them slashed my chest.

I should have died right there for I hadn't expected someone to lift me at the right timing before scolding me with his eyes alone, I had always felt safe in his arms and this time was no exception. Sasuke Uchiha. He had saved me countless times and this time I was lucky to still have my jacket in contact. It was speckled with blood and had just recently lost the ability to cover my naval and chestal area. I tried to hug it closed with my arms and not blush under the smouldering Uchiha's gaze but nonetheless, he could still see my netted underclothing and bra.

"Why didn't you ask us to assist you, my princess?" He said in a cold and mocking voice but I pecked him on the cheek anyway.

"Us?" I asked as he set me on the ground and before I could lean in and kiss him properly my loud-mouthed, idiotic yet loveable best friend literally came between us.

"He means me! Teme's right Sakura, you should've got us to back you up. Stop trying to show us up, you could've been killed. Jeez you're lucky we showed up when we did," he bragged and I shoved an elbow into his side.

"We know he's after you both so I just thought for once I could protect you guys myself," I answered and I could see the pain in Sasuke's face as he tried not to ravish me right then and there in front of our shared best friend. Instead, he settled for a light kiss to my forehead before leaning down to my level.

"Don't do it again because you know I'll go ballistic without you by my side, isn't that right my queen?" My fiance spoke in a light and sweet tone and now I was resisting the intoxication that was his voice.

"Alright, I'm sorry! Let's just get this shit over and done with," I said with a small smile, shaking off his alluring presence. We all knew the plan.

"Summoning!"

I woke with a start. My palms were sweaty, my breathing ragged as I tried to calm down. That dream was intense! With the... hang on... what was it about again. Weird. I was sure it was important. I can remember it was important but couldn't remember the contents of it. Just great(!)

I sat with my knees bunched to my face again when I heard footsteps nearing. The door creaked open to reveal my enslavers; Shino and Kiba. I tried staying as I could when Kiba bent down to my level.

"Hey, Missy. If you're done crying, our Boss wants to see you," he yawned as he poked my side. I gave up my first plan and got down on my knees.

"Please! I'll do anything just don't kill me!"

"Jeez, why do we have to deal with this?" Complained Kiba, completely ignoring my pleas.

"Why you ask? Because you described specific characteristics which intrigued Boss, therefore ordering us to bring her to him. Now if you would just come with us miss," Shino said as he unlocked my cage to let me out.

I stumbled to my feet and didn't even attempt to escape which I'm sure they were glad for. I was drained emotionally and physically that I could barely remember which hall we had entered and which door we had exited They all looked the same anyway, marble tiles, porcelain walls and french windows every ten to fifteen meters. My feet ached until we came to an ominous set of titanic, ivory french doors that screamed danger at me. Kiba reached out his hand to knock and I didn't miss the slight shake in his hand as he did so.

"Come in," the voiced demanded and Kiba and Shino were quick to obey.

Inside was a throne room with no light except for the light coming from the doors. No windows that I could see, though I do think I saw a curtain of some sort, I could make out the beautiful shades that coloured the room. It was coloured with only the purest shades of ivory matching the doors that led up to it, no creams or beiges here. There were white marble tiles beneath my feet that symbolised royalty for me, a little much for a gangsta if you asked me. It was like what I had just seen outside of this room but it was designed to out-do everywhere else in this place, and it was doing a good job too even with its shitty lighting. It didn't stop there either right-centre in the middle sat a shining silver throne with a pair of legs slung over the left armrest. I looked a little harder when I saw him lounging like a king.

"Boss, we brought the lady you asked for," Shino informed and the man upon the throne made a hand gesture emitting dismissal. At that, the pair left and I was left alone with the brooding figure bathed in darkness.

He edged closer to the edge of his silver throne and his eyes widened slightly. The Boss was quite a handsome who looked no older than me if not a good five years older. He dressed like the boys I saw around campus which was unsettling because of how casual he looked. He wore ripped jeans, Timbs, a v-necked long-sleeved, white shirt and hooded coat on top. His hair was as black as night with the ends fraying and sticking upright yet moving in different directions. His complexion was a flawless shade of porcelain and his eyes were a beautiful contrast of onyx. If he wasn't so scary I would've blushed at his gorgeous appearance.

"You..." he said softly. It was very different from the loud and confident orders he had given just before - I was wondering if they were two different people. I worked up the courage to look into his deep, rich eyes and form the sentence gnawing at me since I had laid eyes on him.

"W-Who are you?"

His gentle nature and softened look turned hard as steel when he looked at me with pure hatred and bitterness. He glared at me as if I was some vile creature lower than dirt like I had just played some sort of sick joke on him.

"I am Sasuke Uchiha. And you are pathetic," he spat.


End file.
